Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei questioned historical authenticity of Holocaust in video on his official website

The Iranian leader said: 'Even if it is a reality, it is not clear how it happened'

The Supreme Leader of Iran marked Holocaust Memorial Day yesterday by publishing a video disputing the authenticity of the genocide on his official website.

The three-minute video, titled Are the Dark Ages Over?, features images in the background of Auschwitz concentration camp – where more than a million people are believed to have been exterminated by the Nazi regime – and photos of Holocaust deniers in handcuffs.

The hardline leader of Iran, Ayotollah Ali Khamenei, speaking during the video clip said: “No one in European countries dares to speak about the holocaust while it is not clear whether the core of this matter is reality or not… Even if it is a reality, it is not clear how it happened.”

He continued: “Speaking about Holocaust and expressing doubts about it is considered to be a great sin. If someone does this, they stop, arrest, imprison and sue him. This is while they claim to be the supporters of freedom.”

While other nations commemorated the millions sent to their deaths in concentration camps across Europe at the hands of Adolf Hitler’s regime, the Iranian leader’s website promoted the video with a banner across its homepage with a montage of images – one including the former leader of the Third Reich.

The Iranian leader concludes in the video clip: “This is the ignorance that exists in today’s world. We should be awake. You dear brother, dear people of Iran, Muslims in the great Islamic Ummah and officials in different countries, should know that we can stand up against the ignorance.

Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian President, meanwhile, is on a tour of Rome. On Tuesday he had a 40 minute meeting with the Pope.